Research On Demotivation In English Learning Of Senior High School Students

Learning motivation is one of the main factors affecting the success or rate of learning foreign language. So far a large number of researches have been conducted in learning motivation both at home and abroad, among which are concentrated on the positive motivation which can result in successful language acquisition. However, few studies have touched the negative aspect of motivation, called demotivation. As a matter of fact, the phenomenon of demotivation is very usual in process of foreign language learning. Researching demotivation provides us with a new perspective to understand the factors that influence students’ foreign language learning. And to explore the cause of demotivation is good for us to choose the corresponding methods to keep or even reinforce students’learning motivation.The purpose of this thesis is to explore the situation of demotivation among senior high school students and discover the main factors that affect their motivation in English learning. At the same time, further analysis was conducted to investigate whether or not there are differences in demotivation attribution among learners who are differing in gender. Therefore, this research designed three questions:1) Is it a serious problem that demotivation phenomenon exists in English learning among senior high school students? 2) What are the major demotivating factors for senior high school students? 3) Are the demotivating factors different in terms of learners’gender? This research adopts both the qualitative and quantitative methods, using two research tools including questionnaire and semi-structured interview.126 students from Grade 1 of two senior high schools in the city of Guilinin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Grade three of a senior high school in the city of Zhuzhou in Hunan Province took part in the questionnaire investigation as the research subjects. In the meantime, in light of their responses, data were inputted and analyzed with the help of software SPSS 22.0. Results are gained by employing the means of descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis and independent sample t-test. Six demotivated students participated in the interview so as to verify the result of quantitative research.The major findings of this research are showed as follows:(1) Demotivation is a common or even severe phenomenon among senior high school students. (2) There are seven factors that impair learning motivation among senior high school students, including learner’s language attitude, learner’s confidence, teacher’s responsibility, teacher’s basic teaching skills, learning content, parent’s guidance and financial support. The factor of parent’s guidance ranks at the first place among them. (3) Significant gender differences lie in the factor of learners’ language attitude.